We play today, we win today, das it.

The other day, I found myself watching Mission: Man Band. I know, I know, what has my life come to? Well, I have always wondered what happened to the white guy from Color Me Badd. The band, which calls itself Sureshot, consists of four members:

* Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd)
* Rich Cronin (LFO)
* Chris Kirkpatrick (*NSYNC)
* Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees)

Who are those three other clowns? Basically, they got the dude that's not JT from Nsync and the dude that's not Nick Lachey from 98 degrees. I guess the dude from LFO was picked to round out the crew. What the funny looking guy from the Backstreet Boys was busy? Honestly, this show is pretty bad, but it's just too funny to not watch. You know, in that unintentionally funny kind of way. Sorta like Flavor of Love. By the way, when I googled Color Me Badd, I came up with this tidbit; they are listed on Billboard as the 7th biggest musical act of the 90s. Really? Were the 90's that bad?

As for a good show to watch, I've really been into this show Mad Men on AMC. Good show about Ad Execs during the early 60's. From the executive producer and writer of "The Sopranos" Matthew Weiner, comes Mad Men. It's a provocative tv show about the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising firm. Good cast to boot, with John Hamm playing a really dark and introverted character, and the lovely January Jones(best known as Cadence from the American Wedding movie) as his wife. I like this show a lot.
It's probably the best TV show to debut this summer. While I'm at it, the other day I caught one of those VH1 Classic Albums shows. This one was about Nirvana's Nevermind. Pretty cool documentary on the making of that album. Includes interviews w/ Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, producer Butch Vig and Thurston Moore.

Yankees have been playing like crap the last few days. Losing two of three to the Angels didn't help. And so far splitting the first two games against Detroit. Not looking good going into a huge series against Boston this week, who have been playing well. This is that stretch where they really needed to play well, and they have played just OK. A few things that have hurt the Yanks are the starting pitching has been pretty bad lately, namely Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens. Wang and Pettite have both pitched well their last time out(hopefully that continues), and Phil Hughes continues to be an enigma. Fans are starting to hate on the Joba Rules, believing the kid should pitch when the team needs him, despite the strict rules to keep him from getting hurt. Big series against Seattle next week too. It's kinda funny because, the Yanks really have their own destiny in their own hands. Ask most teams and players, and that's what they would want. It's pretty basic, you play to win today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Where are those Mariano Duncan t-shirts when you need them.


Listening Pile:
I downloaded Bishop Allen's new album, The Broken String the other day after I clicked on a banner by accident linking me to their song"Rain". I have their 2003 album, Charm School, which I thought was a pretty good listen, but a little uneven.

The band released an EP every month for a year, and they ended up with some 4 dozen songs, of which they picked 8 and added two new ones to make up this album. After years of underground rumblings with their self-released debut the Brooklyn by way of Boston - based group should command a bit more attention for their new masterful album, combining cinematic lyrics, plaintive, passionate vocals and jangly indie-rock. "Rain" is a bouncy, new wave-ish track, and the rest of the album is playful, capturing life's fragile, beautiful moments.

Holy Cow!

It's been a very sad two days in my household. We lost a very close friend in the Scooter, Phil Rizzuto. He was beloved for this off-beat announcing, giving people shoutouts on their birthday(before they were shoutouts), his love of canolis, his wife Cora, and of course of the game. He was the voice of the Yankees for many a generations. To this day, just about every game I watch, I think to myself, this would be so much more entertaining and insightful if the Scooter were doing this game. He holds a dear place in my heart. Here is a greatMike Lupica Article about the Scooter.

I was saddened at Old Timers day when they announced the Scooter couldn't be in attendance. That day, was the first time it even dawned on me that he might be gone one day soon. I had the pleasure to meet him once when I was about 8 years old. I used to live in the same town as him in New Jersey and we went trick or treating in his neighborhood. I remember ringing the doorbell and none other than the Scooter answering the door. I'm sure we weren't the first kids that night to ring his doorbell, nor the last, but he treated us as if we were friends. He just said, "Holy Cow! Look at those costumes and put a bunch of pennies in our bags. I actually kept those pennies for years, and kinda still wish I had them. '

Listening Pile:
No music today. Just listening to the voice of the Scooter. So glad Mike and the Mad Dog played an interview from June of 05 on their show yesterday. He sounded old and beat up, but still full of life. Go to youtube, the yes network and listen to some old play by play by the Scooter. One of my favorite stories by the Scooter, can't remember who it was with, but they were talking about an oval shaped hotel room. The Scooter just said something like, "I couldn't stay in a room like that, I'd have nowhere to corner Cora." Go here to read some more.

And my dreams all fade away

Pete Abe at the Lohud Yanks Blog posted this earlier:

Received this press release from YES today:

The YES Network is enjoying its highest New York Yankees ratings ever, with its primetime Yankees telecasts ranking No. 1 in New York on 27 of the past 29 game nights. YES’ primetime telecasts have regularly outperformed ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and all other New York broadcast and cable stations this summer.

Tuesday’s Yankees-Blue Jays telecast on YES registered a 7.4 TV household rating (715,000 viewers), the highest-rated and most-watched program on YES since September 29, 2005, when the Yankees-Orioles telecast scored a 7.6 TV household rating (731,000 viewers).

This suggests two things to me: People really like how this team is playing and there’s not much on in the summer.

Um... yeah, you think. Last night I found myself watching The Nine and Top Chef. Seriously, what has my life come to. There are times I pray for death looking for something to watch on TV during the summer. I also have been watching Survivor...er... Big Brother Season 112. Things are bad. I literally watched Feasting on Asphalt for the 2nd time in 3 days last night, while the Yanks were getting killed. I will say, one good thing that came out of the Bonds home run chase, was getting to watch all his games on ESPN2. As an East Coast baseball fan, I never get to see any of the NL teams play, especially the NL West. That was kinda nice. The parks in LA, San Diego, Arizona and SF are sure nice too. Some of the best out there from what I've seen.

Anyhows, here is when the Yanks' schedule gets ridiculous. 17 out of 20 games against the Red Sox, Angels, Indians, with 3 each, and 8 against the Tigers(and Placido Polanco's misshaped head), who beat mercilessly on the Yanks last year in the postseason. You can come out of those games two games over .500, and win two of out 3 against the Orioles, who have given the Yanks fits all season, and we have a very good shot of getting into the postseason.

Listening Pile:
Just saw that UNKLE is playing a show in NYC at Webster Hall on October 18th. I am totally blown away by this information. With his U.K. label Mo' Wax, James Lavelle helped launch the instrumental mid-'90s downtempo breakbeat era, eventually dubbed trip-hop. Lavelle has always found a way to make some of the most interesting electronic music out there, with lots of guests on his records singing their parts, from Josh Homme, Thom Yorke, Ozzy, to Ian Brown and Ian Astbury. My man's technique is sick. Psyence Fiction and Never, Never, Land were outstanding albums, and so far from what I've heard of War Stories, it's top notch too. Plus, you need to see the video for "Burn My Shadow" w/ the Eastern European dude from ER.

Theres no bathroom, and there is no sink.

things have been crazy the last few weeks. lots of work crap to deal w/ last week as i was taking friday off to have wrist surgery, also took monday off. yay short workweek. the surgery hurt like a mofo. i was totally out of it on friday, the day of the procedure. i don't know what it is about hospitals and doctors, but i have no idea why they keep you waiting around so long. like, for no reason. just sit there and wait, and wait, and then more waiting. then you go somewhere else, and wait more, before you see a doc for five minutes, then you go and wait more. ugh! so, like injured baseball players, i guess i'm just day-to-day. or, dunno, would i be on the DL?

somehow the yanks went from 9.5 games out of the wildcard on july 7 to .5 games out today. that's 9 games they picked up on the indians,or the tigers, whomever is not leading the central. phil hughes looked pretty good the other day in his first start back from the D.L. i really hope that kid can start to finish off batters and not mess around so much and nit-pick when he has two strikes on a guy. he threw way too many pitches in only 4 and 2/3 innings the other day. but, lots of people have been saying that having a kid like him at the back of the rotation is like trading for a solid starting pitcher. plus i came across a stat the other day talking about how clemens and pettite are two of the winningest pitchers of all time in the month of august. good, we'll need it!

joba chamberlain is up too, which is kinda nice, and not just because the dude's first name is joba, which opens up endless possibilities for a nickname and theme music, but also because he's been lights out since his conversion to the bullpen in AAA ball.. The 21-year-old, 2006 draft pick, has been lights out all season, going 9-2 with a 2.45 ERA over 3 organizational levels. In 88.1 innings, he has allowed 62 hits and struck out 135. Just the other day, he struck out 5 in two innings of work. I dunno, I like this team a lot better than the old, slow, stumbling team we had in April and May. I hope bringing back Giambi doesn't hurt the team. It's strange, but it seems the team has played so much better without him and you have to hope his return doesn't impede the development of Melky and Andy Phillips, who have thrived in their new starting roles.

i've been watching this big brother 18, or whatever season it's in now.(isn't there like one every six months now or something?) i know one of the guys, eric. nice guy, met him once when we went out for drinks w/ some friends. he's america's player, so america, gets to pick stuff for him to do. i hope someone asks him to punch that tommy lee looking dude(dick) in the face, or at least that jen chick. that would make for must see television. i mean, seriously, do they turn off the AC in that place. why are people standing around in their underwear? who cooks in a bikini? this show is so irrational, but people love it.

Listening Pile:
I'm not sure yet, but I really think I like this new Rilo Kiley jam, Silver Lining It's from their upcoming fourth album Under the Blacklight. "Silver Lining" has got some 60's am pop vibe to suck you in and cute little Jenny Lewis just sucks you right in. Damn her! I have to say, I've never been into the Rilo, nor her solo stuff, but she always manages a way to make me at least want to check out her records.

By the way, has anyone noticed Silverchair is back with a new album, that apparently is only available from Newbury Comics? Apparently, it's their best selling album, which is hard to believe, since Frogstomp seemed to be everywhere back in 95. I dunno, why I'm talking about this. Just seems weird.

And they all want you to change

I came across this post the other day on Stereogum . What's really strange is I had not really paid any attention to it, aside from thinking, man that was a great album. Easily one of my favorite records from the early 90's, this album continues to be a great listen, no matter the disastrous albums that have followed, or the craziness that Billy Corgan has dreamt up in his own mind. And seriously, James Iha has to stop following me around the Lower East Side. Anyhows, that thought just crossed my mind, listening to the album. Where are the two girls from that album, then I remembered the post. Even the Pumpkins posted this on their site. Where are you oh siamese girls?

While I got Billy Corgan on the mind, what is up with that album cover for Zeigeist? Did they think that no one would notice it's so obviously a Shepard Fairey job, even though it looks like a Fairey rip-off. Nice way to mail it in Shep. And why does NYC have to be underwaters. Billy, are you still mad at James, and as a result, subsequently mad at the city he currently lives in? Let go man, just let go. I have only heard a song or two, and it doesn't make me want to listen to the rest of the record in any way.

While I'm on a rant about Shepard Fairey and his great Obey the Giant images, I'm reminded of all the imitators and rip-offs. My favorite play on the Obey the Giant images has got to be the Dogs Of War shirts and designs. Seriously, these kill me. I recently purchased a Obey the Schnauzer magnet for my fridge at home.

Listening Pile:
Today, we're listening to the album Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins. Truly a great album, and the breakthrough album for the band. i remember spending many late nights listening to this album. Great from start to finish. Go listen.

At the end of the day, one shall stand, one shall fall!

Finally, got to see Transformers. Loved the special effects, the robots, Megan Fox and it was a half-way decent plot.
However the real actors totally brought that movie down. Why the hell was John Torturro in that movie? He's an amazing actor and he played a horrible part, as agent Simmons. Megan Fox was lovely, as expected. So, was Rachael Taylor. Where the hell did she come from? Shia LaBeouf plays that same annoying goofy character he always plays. Blah, Blah, Blah... But seriously, the stars of the movie, were the Autobots and the Decepticons. The fight scenes were sick! The fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron was unreal, and a great way to cap off the movie. I am soooo getting this movie on DVD to watch through it on HD at home. I wondering if Megan and Rachael seem more real?

Came across this the other day and totally had to share it. You, can go to the Simpsons Movie site and make your own avatar in your likeness. As you can see to your right, it may not come out looking exactly like you, but hey, close enough.
I don't think anyone ever thought there would be a movie, none the less a website to make yourself into a character, or Simpsonized as they like to call it. I remember, when I moved to Springfield, NJ from Hillside in 1990. Every kid, including two of my best friends, Mike and Adam, were wearing Bartman t-shirts. Jeez, how far things have come in 17 years. Really sad to see that our Springfield lost out to Springfield in VT, in the movie premiere contest. That's a bummer. But I bet it could have something to do with the lame movie we entered and the lack of an actual movie theater in the town.


On the baseball front, the Yankees have won 6 out of 8 to start the 2nd half of the season. With four more games against the Devil Rays this weekend, then four more against the Royals leading to a three game series against the Orioles, plus the last two innings make up of a game from a few weeks ago, the Yanks have a real good shot at getting back into the postseason race. If they can win those 3 series, they'll put themselves in a really good spot leading into August. We've been getting pretty good pitching lately from our starters and the bullpen, with the exception of Krazy Kyle Farnsworth, aka the Farnswacker, has been pretty good too. That guy is worthless, unless there is a brawl brewing on the horizon. We do play the Red Sox a few more times this season, not that that's really enough reason to keep him around.

The bats, I have to say, have been pretty lukewarm against the starters lately. It seems they don't get going until the starter is almost out of the game, or the bullpen is in. A-Rod hasn't really hit well since the break, but has a few homers to balance it out. Seems like he's pressing for the homer a bit too much, when he should be looking to hit the ball the other way. And don't get me started on how sedentary our baserunners are on the basepaths. Can Torre call for a stolen base every once in while. Have we not learned anything from the Championship teams of the last few years? Manufacturing runs is always the best way to get an offense going and disrupt a staring pitcher. Serenity Now! Read this article about Dontrelle Willis and his problems lately. The D-Train has been derailed. He can't win a game if his life depended on it. And... he's been killing my fantasy team. I had the choice to keep him or Justin Verlander. Ugh! Also, came across this SI Feature with their picks for best athletes by number.

The easiest choices? Pele (10), Michael Jordan (23), and Lawrence Taylor (56). Numbers that lacked star quality: 65 (Elvin Bethea), 67 (Reggie McKenzie) and 69 (Krumrie).

Runner-up: LeBron James.

Worthy of consideration: Kirk Gibson, Pete Maravich (college), Calvin Murphy, Ryne Sandberg.

Um... #23, you ever hear of a guy by the name of Don Mattingly? Anyhows, there are some great debates, and certainly some no-brainers. Clemente and #21. Robinson and #42. Joe Montana and #16. LT and #56. Check out, it's a cool little feature.


Listening Pile:
BRMC is back with new album, Baby 81. It's a return to form for the San Francisco threesome. While their last album, Howl, wasn't a disappointment, it did lack that gritty, raw rock sound the band had become known for. That album was mostly acoustic, with an americana and rootsy twist. The new album sees them return to the howling(no pun intended) guitar wall of sound and pounding drums. A great piece of work work that reminds many of their early work, with dark textures, sonic soundscapes, and oozing sexuality. For the first time since their S/T debut album, they sound like a cohesive band that enjoyed making this album. With drummer, Nick Jago back in tow, after some addiction problems saw him leave right before the recording of the last album, the group has rejuvenated themselves, with a record that captures much of what initially made them such a great group.

How Are Things On The West Coast?

Things have been strange lately to say the least. July 4th hit me hard in the middle of last week. I keep reading all this stuff about how people want to move a holiday like the Fourth to the first thursday of the month. Now, theoretically, it sounds like a great idea. Like how Presidents day, MLK, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving are always fixed. Plus you get the extra day off, for a Thursday holiday. Lets give it up for the four day weekend. Last week was just a pain in the ass. The holiday did nothing for me, as I had to work half the day anyway, with one of the artists I work with playing a show that day. It killed my day. Killed it. Plus the weather didn't hold up and that just made things worse.

This past weekend was also a baseball induced blur, with old timer's day on saturday, then a marathon 14 inning game, then a regular 9 inning blow-out on sunday. The all-star break landed at just the right time. Those two games in two days, plus 2 games the previous Sunday and Monday proved to be way too much in such a short period of time. Which makes me think, those Ultimate Roadtrip folks have kind of got to be out of their minds. 4 games in 8 days made me kinda go nuts, I can't imagine what 162 games in 6 months would do to me. I'm thinking at some point it starts feeling like Groundhog's day and you're just begging for the toaster to fall into the tub. I ""mean, I LOVE baseball, but really, that's got to be just mind-blowing. I got to a point, when I could not even look at another hot dog. I was literally trying to figure out what beer I hadn't had yet. I'll say this, the Beers Of The World stand they have is a total rip-off. You literally pay $8 for a 12 oz beer, that if you bought at the grocery store, would cost you, no more than a $1.25. And, there's nothing special, it's Pilsner Urquel, Blue Moon, Amstel Light, Grolsch, and Corona. Nothing special really. Meanwhile, you could just go to the Heiniken booth and get a 24 oz. beer for $10. Now, which one sounds like the good deal. hmmmm. That's one of those things that drives me crazy. It's not up there with the great subway challenge, but it's up there.

So, while I'm on the subject of baseball, I'll throw this out there. The Yankees have 77 games remaining. It's been said that they would have to win about 95 games to make it to the postseason. The Yankees currently sit at 42-43. That means they would have to win approximately 52 games out of 77 to end up in the postseason. Aside from those two weeks in early June when they won something like 12 out of 13, they have not looked like a team that could win 52 out of 77. But here is where it gets tricky. 54 of those games are against teams below .500. 14 against the Rays, 10 against the lowly Royals, 12 against the Orioles, 10 against the Blue Jays, and 3 more versus the stumbling White Sox. There's some room to really get back into the swing of things. Now, I know the Yanks can win against those teams, but honestly it seems the Yanks have played pretty poorly against bad teams this year. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can see a big let down if they don't get going fast after the break. And, if they don't get off to a good start and get themselves 7-10 games over .500 before mid-August, they could be done for. As maybe their toughest stretch starts August 16th when the Yanks, start a series against the Tigers, followed by the Angels and then the Red Sox. That's 14 games against 3 very good teams, and possibly the 3 division winners. If the Yankees can pick up those 7-10 games, and play decent ball in those 14 games, this season has a shot, otherwise, we'll start looking towards 2008 a lot sooner.

Wow, now that's kinda depressing huh!

Listening Pile:
Interpol's new album, Our Love To Admire, has been in heavy rotation on the iPod. Their third full length, sees them sort of pick up right were Antics left off. It's dense, dark and brooding album, with the usual vague lyrics and swirling guitars. My biggest beef with the album, is that the production, while a bit excessive at times, tends to drown out a stellar drummer in Sam Foggarino and a superb bass player in Carlos D. In fact, it's a distraction because while Interpol have never been ones to beat you over the head with a sharp melody, the dense structure of the low end on most of their previous work, kept things intact and flowing with ease. I hear a few songs that sort of go nowhere and miss that deceptive low end. However, the record is pretty darn good. I love the melodramatic first song, "Pioneer To The Falls", as well as the confessional, "Rest My Chemistry". "Heinrich Maneuver" is a great first single, but lacks a solid follow-up. This album needs one more really solid rocker. Mammoth", almost pulls that off, but just lacks a catchy hook. There are a few other solid tracks on the album, but a good portion of the record sort of just sounds like filler. It almost seems like they came up a few songs short and just came up with a few uninspired tracks to finish the album.

Well I always loved your accent.

Had some nice food the other night at Mole. I had walked by this place a few times and it looked pretty interesting. So glad, I tried out this new Mexican joint, located on Allen St in the LES. Someone mentioned to us that it was pretty good and they make guacamole right at your table. We waited almost 40 minutes for a table at the bar. We brought our own beer, as it's BYOB. Can't go wrong with that. They even make virgin Margaritas, which you can add your own tequila too. I had these delicious scallop tacos, Erika had some tasty carne tacos, and we split some great taquitos, with potato and chorizo in em. Pretty tasty. It's funny, but people from the West Coast always say it's impossible to find good Mexican food in the city. Think I found a good joint tho. Just stay away from going during the peak hours. It's a tiny place and there's not much room to maneuver around. This along with, E.U. and Tapeo 29, are two of the best restaurants I've eaten at in the last month. Tapeo 29, is a tapas bar, and we ate there on my bday. It was awesome. The E.U. was great, had steak and eggs there a couple weekends ago. Very good.

Went to Connecticut last weekend for Father's day, and came home with one of these, from the Berkshire Brewing Co. It was a fantastic, light ale with a nice gold color. It was good. Erika and her dad got a Coffeehouse Porter, which seems really interesting. Also, found a couple of bottles of the Post Road Pumpkin ale from the Brooklyn Brewery. One of my favorite pumpkin ales. Strange that I found some in a liquor store in Connecticut, and could never find it bottled in New York. Also, picked up a sixer of the Brooklyn Brewery's Summer Ale at Whole Foods this week. Pretty good. I always love a good Summer Ale.

Got the Yankees in San Francisco this weekend. Hoping we can win tonight and pick up the series win. Moose on the hill versus Noah Lowry, who I had on my fantasy team last year. He always managed to kill me when I thought he was just about to turn a corner. Hoping the Yanks can get to him tonight. Barry Lamar cranked one out the other night, wonder if he's getting one out today. Just say something about Rod Beck the former MLB closer, dying. Strange, he didn't seem that old to me. He always had a fantastic mullet and the fu-manchu stache.

Listening Pile
Heading over to McCarren Park Pool to see Superchunk now. Should be fun. Haven't seen them since CMJ like 6 years ago or something. This will be my first time at McCarren park pool. used to live right by there, for like 3 years too. Ha. Wish me luck.

Looks Like Someone Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The Rock

So, I know this may be a little old by now, and the way MTV operates, maybe it will never happen. But, during the 24 hour Human Giant marathon. Did anyone hear Michael Showalter announced that a DVD set containing the entire series of one of the greatest sketch comedy shows, ever, The State, would be released by MTV sometime this year? The first season has been released on iTunes and is pretty great, but there are a whole bunch of other episodes still missing. Speaking of the Human giant, how about that show. It kicked off with a sick song by Mastodon. Someone needs to give those guys a weekly shows, like Friday at 10pm. I loved how they had live music, and aired old clips of great MTV tv shows and skits. Lets go guys, make it happen. Tom Selleck can't stop you!

And, while we're on the subject of great TV shows, can't believe they are creating a show around one of my favorite TV ad campaigns in recent memory. Yes, the Geico cavemen, are getting their own, tv show. I cannot wait for this show. I think it's going to be hilarious. The summer is dragging on, and really you can only watch so much Top Chef and Yankee games, and contemplate who was in the casket on the season finale of LOST.

The Yankee game on Sunday was fun. I always get a real treat out of seeing the Yankees play the Mets. And, it's not really because of the rivalry, but rather the ridiculous people at the game. There were fights, people throwing beer at Mets fans, and just general idiocy. As I was telling my buddies at the game, it's a lot harder to hate the Mets when one of our own is their manager, Willie Randolph. Plus, I read that 11 page feature on Omar Minaya in Sports Illustrated, and I like the guy more and more every day. And, the Yankees win. Well, we were happy to get the win and skip town with 2 out of 3 versus the Metropolitans.

Listening Pile:
Been rockin that new Queens Of The Stone age album, Era Vulgaris. Not sure why so many critics are hating on it. I love the record. It's not quite as catchy as some of the more recent records, but this one totally reminds me of the R record. Crazy, eclectic jams with strange vocals, strange time changes, ands lots thrown into one song. I like, I like it a lot. Especially love the single, "Sick, Sick, Sick", which is a great rocker. Also, love that they threw in one of my favorite Dessert Sessions tracks, "make it wit chu". That is a jam!

A quite alarming knack of knowing when to twist the knife .

Went to the Doc the other day to have him look at my wrist. He said everything looks good. The distal radius fracture is pretty much completely healed and the scaphoid crack is looking pretty good too. Strange thing about breaking bones he told me. Apparently once the bones heal, you still have to let the tendons heal, which can take twice as long. So, looks like I have another 4-6 weeks of strange pains and weakness in the wrist. But at least I'm finally getting use of the hand and wrist back. It was pretty tough for a few weeks there. The first week, I had to be helped putting clothes on.

Crazy all these ads they are running for the new iPhone. From the ads, it looks like a really neat gadget. I know it's got a pretty hefty price tag on it, but really, at some point soon, I'll have to buy a new phone and iPod, plus, really, I only use my iBook at home for email, web and very little else. For the price of the phone and ipod, you get something that does all three, and it takes pics. Not too shabby. Gonna have a lot of folks breaking their contracts to get on board with Cingular and the iPhone.

Listening Pile:
Been rocking the new Travis album. Man, did the return with a fantastic album. Honestly, I really didn't feel the last album, 12 Memories. It was a darker and politically leaning album. This one, produced by old friend, Nigel Goodrich, and also helped by Brian Eno, sees them return to form. The Boy With No Name has a handful of absolute gems, proving that Travis are still capable of penning a tune that wraps around your ears and captures perfect pop tunes with that nonchalant British knack. Single, "Colder", feels like it could easily have been one of the songs from the first two records. I find myself humming it hours after listening to it. And if you listen carefully to "Selfish Jean", you may hear a bit of Hall & Oats' "Maneater" in there, not that there's anything wrong with that. Even more good news, they are coming to the US to play some shows. I'm hoping to be able to check out one of the two Irving Plaza shows.

You could break me by the bones, until you break me inside.

So, I decided I'm going to run a half-marathon on August 5th. Yup, that's 13.1 miles. 13 miles, 192.5 yards to be exact. Figure, I've been running for almost a year now. I've gotten a lot faster and stronger. I've yet to top a long run of more than 6 miles, but think that gradually over the next four months, I can easily get up to at least 10, if not more. I'm not trying to set world records here or run in
outer-space, just trying to stay in shape and feel good about myself. needed a bit more of a challenge than doing 3-4 miles three or four days a week. The plan is to run sub-2 hours. This is a nice long-term goal, with a bunch of short term goals in the meantime. Planning on doing a 5k and 10k as a warm up over the next few months too. Depending on how well I do in the training, the race, and well, really, how my knees and ankles hold up, I may look into doing a marathon in 2008.


Just saw A-Rod hit another bomb to win the game. Man he is on fire. The other night I was out with some buddies, and they both seemed to think Alex could easily hit 60 homeruns. I argued, that he would top out at about 48. However, just seeing him over the past few days, maybe they are right. He keeps this up, he could very well hit sixty. His stroke just looks really short and compact, and he's getting around on pitches a lot better than he was last year. And having Bobby Abreu hit in front of him has been really good for him too. That guy makes pitchers work, making them throw plenty of pitches. I say the number of hits A-Rod hits will be based on how well Giambi and Matsui are hitting late in the season. If they aren't hitting well, A-Rod will get walked a ton. Man, last night I was hoping they would save some of those runs for the Boston series this weekend. Hoping those bats don't go cold over the short flight up to beantown.


Listening Pile:
Have been listening to Idlewild's new disc, Make Another World a bit lately. Being a huge fan of their 100 Broken Windows and The Remote Part, I was definitely underwhelmed by the last two discs. Maybe their label was as well, as they saw a departure from Capitol. And I don't even think Make Another World has actually been released in the US on current label Sanctuary. To put it best, the two earlier albums, just rocked enough and had better and more interesting arrangements. And, for some reason, those records just pop. They sound great. 100 Broken Windows being close to a perfect album, the Remote Part, not far behind. Warnings/Promises left a lot to be desired, yet had a few quality tracks, most notably, "Love Steals Us From Loneliness", "I Want A Warning" and "El Capitan".

Now on Make Another World, is not a bad record by any means. There are some really nice melodies and good guitar lines. There are some decent songs on here, "Finished It Remains", "A Ghost In The Arcade" and, easily the most propulsive song on the album, "If It Takes You Home". However, if you've ever seen this band live, you know they rock, and rock hard. And that to me, is the thing missing most from this album. It just noodles back and forth, with an occasional rocker here and there. The ballads and quiet songs, just don't have that lyrical hook you expect. On their earlier works, I just found that the lyrics were sharp, poignant and witty. The guitars were crunchy, as the rhythm section stayed just enough out of the way to make things interesting. Here, there is just too much teetering on the mundane here. However, I am quite interested to see them live again. I bet a bunch of these songs would sound great in a live setting.

Quarters are for parking meters and we're in the record industry.

The MLB clubhouse stores across the country will soon be selling Alyssa Milano’s new Touch line of baseball apparel. Funny it's called touch, as many a star hurlers have actually touched Milano. Everyone from Crazy Barry Zito, to Brad Penny and even the Rajah of Rehab himself, Carl Pavano. Little Samantha Micelli's product line is specifically designed for women, and is available for all 30 major-league teams...including the Red Sox.

“When I go to baseball games, I want to wear fan gear to support my team, but I've found that the product mix offered in the current marketplace does not address my everyday fashion needs. Women should be able to look stylish while cheering on their favorite team.”

I am just dreading the game when we see a heffer chowing down two hot dogs wearing one of those criss crossy ones...
It's bad enough they make stupid products like this, but really! That criscross one is just not suitable for a game. I think if they want to address my needs at the ball game, I might need a Yankee logo on one of these. Someone's gotta make that happen. And everyone knows how I feel about the new hats. Ugh!

Man, you gotta love Tony Victory. And not just for making it, "Your Label, Your Music". The label owner announced it will remove its music catalog from online music store eMusic. Dude is hating on digital music services, saying it's making music "disposable." Tony Victory had a similar beef with Steve Jobs and iTunes, accusing them of bolstering their profit margin at the expense of independent labels like Victory Records. Apparently, Senor Jobs had a little more juice, as Tony Victory in an about-face, decided to license his company's catalog to Apple. As much as I've heard about that guy and his shady business practices, he did put out a couple really solid albums in the late 90's, by the likes of By The Grace Of God, Grade, Boy Sets Fire, Deadguy, Thursday and even some Refused material.



Listening Pile:
Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space which originally came out in 1997 has been rocking the random party shuffle on my iTunes. Jason Pierce(aka J. Spaceman) is, a total geniuses and extremely talented musician. Ladies And Gentlemen... captures that innovative magic. Originally, the CD coming wrapped in foil and accompanied by dosage instructions like "Play twice daily" and "May cause dizziness." The contents of the package, was powerful, dense music starting with the opening title track. Emotional, adventurous and otherworldly psychedelic symphony topped off with "I Think I'm In Love." At times the album is almost too much to take. That's why this is a perfect album to take in small, daily doses I suppose.

Some news out of the Radiohead camp about the new album. A video posted on the Vapour Bros. site with some random tunes and footage from the studio. Can't wait to hear some of those songs they played live fleshed out and in album form.

Now pitching for the Yankees, Number Forty-Five, Mr. Glass Ass

So on Monday, I decided to play hookie and head up to the Bronx for Opening Day 2007 at Yankee Stadium. Not too many of these left, as 2009 is the launch date for the new Yankee Stadium, Version, 3.0 or The House That Jeter Built.
It began with a wonderful commute via the NY Transit Subway system. Which, from what I heard about driving there, actually didn't seem so bad despite the constant smell of urine/feces and bombardment of drunk frat guys from New Jersey. Took the F train up to West 4th, then transfered to the D(we'll discuss this more later). When I walked out of the subway, I took a peak over to Macombs Dam Park, where we now see the new stadium going up. It's kinda weird I have to say.
Anyhows, after the almost 1/2 hour it took us to get to our seats, we finally sat down just as the players finished warming up and the first pitch was about to be tossed by Carl Pavano, aka Carla, aka Mr. Glass Ass, aka the Rajah of Rehab. He tossed it, without getting hurt too, and didn't pitch so bad, considering his teammates behind him seemed to be fielding with frying pans instead of gloves. But, alas, it's opening day and we begin the most wonderful six months of sports.

Here are my seven things i think i think about opening day:
1. We arrived just in time for the first pitch, so we didn't see line-ups and players announced. So, maybe that's why I didn't notice it until later in the game when Jeter was announced to bat, but Bob Sheppard apparently left halfway through the game. It's pretty strange not hearing Sheppard announce the players coming up to bat, or coming into pitch. "Now batting for the Yankees, Number Two, Derek Jeter". Doesn't sound quite right unless good ole Bob is doing it. Be a sad, sad day when he's not able to do it anymore. Really glad to see Bobby Murcer in the booth and get a huge ovation from the crowd, plus Johnny Damon and Jorge coming out onto the steps in the dugout and pointing up towards him, egging on the crowd. Good to see him doing well, after his brain-cancer battle this winter. Very, very nice tribute to Cory Lidle before the game, and his widow and son throwing out the first pitch. Very strange for a guy that was a career journeyman and only played for the Yanks for two months. But he died as a Yankee, and was honored like one. Pretty classy if you ask me.

2. A beer cost, $8.50. Yes, you read that correctly. A 16 ounce Miller Lite, MGD, Budweiser, or Bud Light costs more than a decent bottle of wine. A beer also costs more than, a six pack of any of those beers. In fact, in some places of the country, it probably costs more than two six packs of each of those beers. A hot dog, costs a whopping, $5.00.
More than the subway ride, to and from the stadium. Yes, for the price of one hot dog, you can purchase about a dozen at the grocery store. Or, think of this. If you got to 15 games, and eat 3 hot dogs per game, as does your spouse, buddy, whomever you take the to the game, and you throw in one beer each per game. You'd have enough to buy your own hot dog cart. Crazy huh! Hopefully, we won't have to sign a new 1st baseman this year. I don't want to have to take out a new mortgage to pay for concessions at the game. At least it's not Fenway. The most expensive park in all of MLB. You need two mortgages to pay for stuff there.


3. Who is the person that decides what music gets played while the players are coming up to bat. REALLY? Giambi comes up to Linkin Park. Jeter comes up to Jay-Z, as always. Jorge Posada, to some salsa or latin pop-hit. Damon comes on to some undeciperable rock band. Mariano Rivera comes on to Enter Sandman by Metallica when he closes games. I'm thinking, there's gotta be someone who decides this stuff. Is it the player themselves? The player's agent? Who? Can I get some help here? The Mets' goldenboy has the Wright idea. Let the fans decide. If the bombers are looking for someone to occupy this role, I know someone who has a great background in music and loves them some Yanks. Of course, I'd keep the "It takes two" by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock when they turn the double-play. That's always a hot one! I guess it's better than the . Allman Brothers

4. What the hell was up with Minky and A-Rod both having the high socks look? Crazy Kyle Farnsworth too! And maybe even big Brian Bruney too. Not that I hate it, I actually love the old school high socks look. I had read a lot about A-Rod and Minky being best buds in high school and training together in the off-season, but come on. What's really going on here? While we're at it, what's up with Johnny Damon looking a little stockier? I know he said in spring training, chicks like it when you look good with your shirt off, but Johnny, I think they meant muscles. Damon looks like he swallowed Pedro's lucky midget. And don't ever get me started on the baggy pants look. Seriously! This is baseball, not night at the thug-life mansion. Manny Ramirez, I am blaming that look on you. I guess no one remembers the eighties and guys like this.

5. What is up with the Dunkin Donuts Subway Line Challenge? Everyone that actually takes the subway, knows the three trains competing, can't seriously be expected to compete, when one of them doesn't even go all the way up to 161 Street/River Ave. The B train actually stops at 125th, and you have to get off and wait for an already packed D train to get up to the stadium! The 4 train, an unmitigated disaster in itself, since it's the nicest of the actual trains, with all new cars on the line. Never mind the fact that it runs local for a small part of it's route, but it occasionally, doesn't even run on the weekends. So, in conclusion, how does a train that mostly runs express all the way from West 4th to the Bronx, not win this silly challenge every time. Ugh, there's probably nothing in that whole stadium, except the inexcusable bathroom and atm lines that drives me more crazy. Nothing!!! Ugh! Now, here is a real subway challenge, and here is a nice article on the subway's history throughout the various incarnations of Yankee Stadium

6. I'm not sure if I really like this 2 first basemen, one outfielder, and one futility infielder bench. As Damon left the game with tight calves on Monday, Melky Cabrera went in to replace him. Leaving only the Miguel Cairo disaster as our only possible outfield option should something happen. I've read a few different places, that the plan for Melky is to spell the three outfielders whenever possible, and have Giambi try to play first one a week or so. Which means one of the 3 outfielders getting his cuts as a DH. Now, with all the egos and limited number of at bats. What are we to do if Melky continues his hitting woes and say one of the outfielders lands on the DL. If I remember correctly, Melky wasn't hitting that well in Spring Training either. Considering when Damon gets back, Melky could get only 10 at bats a week. Who picks up the Yanks? Not like we have an extra outfielder, or even a decent 2nd option. My thinking is, carrying Minky, Josh Phelps and Jason Giambi, is really, really going to hurt this team at some point.

7. While the New York Yankees came from behind to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I wondered, how many more times am I really going to be coming to this stadium and experiencing, what to this point, has always been one of my favorite things to do in this world. Now bear with me for a moment. I attended my first game back in the mid 80's. A double-header with the Seattle Mariners. I barely remember it, aside from seeing lots and lots of green grass, the gross Mariner uniforms, some of my favorite players, Mattingly, Winfield, Randolph, Pags. I even got a coffee mug with a team picture on it, that I had up until the early 90's. I've shared numerous memories, not only with those 50,000 plus fans, countless teams and players, but with my family and friends. I've attended probably about 200 games in the last 20+ years. From the first with my father and brother, to many with both and my mom. To a bunch with friends, including the very first Yankees/Mets game, which we cut school for and I drove too. My first drive into the Bronx. To now with my girlfriend and good friends who are married. It's sorta strange thinking, that despite all the wonderful new accommodations and endless bathrooms, atms, and vendor locations, something will be missing. I thought about it some more. And if you think about it, there are a lot of changes going on around the Yankee way of life. And somehow, i wonder, is this going to change my life. I mean, just to think about it, I won't be able to take my son or daughter and tell them about the countless games I went to with my father. I won't be able to show the spot where Jeter dove into the stands to make that catch in that Oakland playoff series. I won't be able to show where I was sitting when I was seven years old and Rickey Henderson gave me the finger. It'll be really weird someday sitting in a new stadium. Really weird.

Listening Pile:
Ash's fifth full-length album, Twilight Of The Innocents, is due in stores next week, April 10th. Tim Wheeler and the now trio, sans guitarist Charlotte Hatherly, recorded their new album here in NYC in their very studio and produced the sessions all on their own. That's the way to do it boys. It was kinda strange seeing those dudes around here all the time. Tim takes a moment and talks about the upcoming tour dates, the album release, b-sides, being big in Japan(who isn't these days) and taking on Razorlight, head to head.

You can peep a few of the songs on their Myspace page. Scroll down and you can check out the video for lead single, "You Can Have It All", as well. Man, didn't Mariah Carey do a video there too? The one where she's roller skating all around. You know, before she went all crazy Mimi on everyone. Not sure how many Star Wars references there will be on this album, but "Princess Six" is looking pretty suspicious.